The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-04-11
the MISSIONARY JUBILEE c.
LIBERATION.

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the American Board was inaugural
ed on Saturday last at Kawaiahao
Seminary. The party that landed
here on the 9th April 1887, COM
prised "four preachers, one physi-
clan, q secular agent and eight male
school teachers, the wives of these
fourteen and two unmarried female
teachers" OF this small missionary
army, only four were present at the
meeting held at Kawaiahao Semi
nary on Saturday evening, viz:
Mr.. and Mrs. Edward Bailey, of
Waikiki, Maui, Hon. S. N. Castle
and Mrs. A. S. Cooke.
Professor Merritt prefaced the
meeting with prayer, followed by
prayer by Mr.. Edward Bailey.
Musical and literary exercises fol-
lowed in which Mr.. Merritt, Miss
Payson, the Rev. Mr.. Oleson, Mr..
w. O. Smith, Professor Van Slyke,
Mr.. Levi Lyman and several others
took part.
JUBILEE SERVICE.
A larger congregation than usual,
assembled at Fort-street Church
last evening, special devotional eX-
ercises being prepared for this Jubi-
lee Service. The Rev. DIR. Hyde
conducted the service, assisted by
Rev. DR.. Smith of Koloa, and Mr..
Edward Bailey. Rev. w. B. Ole
son delivered the sermon. The
Reverend speaker selected for his
text the following words, taken
from Kings VIII. 81:
"The Lord our God be with us,
as He was with our fathers"
The retrospect of this jubilee oc-
casion carries us back TO the days
of the great spiritual awakening.
AS we look back to those days, we
are conscious of painful contrast
between what was then in the reli-
gious life of this people and what is
now. We are conscious that the
spiritual forces ut work to-day
among Hawaiians are not at all
commensurate with those of fifty
years ago. We are conscious that
these spiritual forces are less advan-
tageously located than formerly |;
that the masses of the people are
less accessible to Gospel truth; that
there is notable absence of that
eagerness to listen to the Gospel
message which characterized the
pungent preaching of the early
days that the current preaching of
the word is in marked degree less
eflicacious and stimulating.
With all the spiritual momentum
of such profound awakening as
agtated our Hawaiian communities,
under the labors of the missionary
fathers, Il half century of Christian
endeavor under all ordinary condi-
tons ought to show results quite
different from those we see about
us. The great Christian public in
other lands, conversant with the his
torical facts of the evangelization of
the Hawaiian race, would naturally
expect development of religious
life in keeping with its phenomenal
emergenee from heathenism into
Christian belief and practice. Under
all ordinary conditions, the Hawaiian
churches to-day ought to show evil
dences of spiritual growth and sta
bility adequately proportional to the
expenditure in money and service in
establishing these churches.
That this is not the result is due
to the fact that Christian life among
the native population has been SUBJ
| jected to extraordinary conditions.
Industrial necessities have com
pletely transformed the social status
of Hawaiians. Owing to enhanced
property values, and the organiza-
ton of new centers of industry Ha-
waiians have parted with their lands,
have abandoned in some consider.
able degree the localities once occu-
pied by them, have put themselves
into industrial relations with people
of dissimilar temperament and man
ner of life, have disjointed their re.
lation to the churches and Sunday
schools owing to removal or to the
contagious indifferentism of planta
ton life, and have SO withdrawn
from the simple contentedness OF
their former method of life as tc
take on new necessities and to adopt
new ways that are direct hindranct
to Gospel effort among them.
Then, again, there has been ;
steady drain away from the forces
at work to perpeluate and establish
Christianity among this people.
The missionary fathers have drop
ped one by one, and no one ha
come in to take their place. Effor
has not been lacking on the part o
Christian men and women, but
has been somewhat intermittent, an,
much less personal and definite thai
the works of the fathers. Some
how it has been overlooked in thi
sad experiment, that religion
vitality personal matter, 1t can
not DO transferred from parent t
child as physical trait, or feature
Each generation must feel this i'm
pact of Gospel truth in the cor
seriousness Of its own necessities an